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Chapter 16
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Such a Fun Age, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
External Behavior vs. Internal Truth
White Guilt, Ignorance, and Redemption
The Quest for Meaning
Race, Class, and Privilege
Summary
Analysis
The night Alix lost her virginity to Kelley, she’d been happy and thought she’d remember the night forever. Now, she realizes her attraction for him hasn’t waned. But Briar’s sudden illness interrupts Alix’s musings. She watches as Kelley grabs Emira around the waist to stop her from hitting the table. In the midst of all this chaos, Alix can barely digest the fact that her kid is sick. Instead, she thinks about how Kelley used to “use[] his hands to steady her.” Now, his hands are wrapped around Emira. Alix wants to slap him and say, “Don’t touch. That’s Mama’s.” When Jodi squeezes Alix’s hand and says, “grab your girl,” Alix initially thinks Jodi’s referring to Emira, not Briar.
Alix explicitly confirms what the novel has already made clear: that she’s still hung up on Kelley all these years later. The reader, thus, should keep Alix’s mental state in mind if and when she confronts Emira about her relationship with Kelley. Even if Alix claims that it’s out of concern for Emira that she interferes in the relationship, her lingering feelings for Kelley—combined with her lingering resentment over his betrayal—will affect her actions to a certain degree. Finally, when Alix thinks Jodi is referring to Emira when she tells Alix to “grab [her] girl,” it reinforces the inequality that colors Alix and Emira’s relationship. Alix claims she wants to be friends with Emira, but she’s really more interested in controlling and possessing her—in using her as an accessory that can redeem her for her past and for the offensive remark Peter made on the air.
Themes
